Piecing Tips for Quilt Making
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Master quilt piecing with expert advice on machine setup, precise ¼″ seam accuracy, and efficient strip‑set techniques, for an accurate and aligned quilt block.
Piecing Tips for Quilt Making. Before you begin sewing, take the time to clean your machine, put in a new needle and fill a few bobbins. Often when you have trouble with your machine, simply unthreading it and rethreading it will solve the problem. Be sure to pull the thread out through the needle rather than through the machine to avoid damaging the eye. Changing the needle and/or replacing the bobbin sometimes solves piecing problems as well.
Unless the pattern tells you otherwise, you should always assume that the seam in any quilting pattern is 1/4″ wide. Many patterns depend on the accuracy of this seam, including this one. To double check yours, cut three 2″ wide by 5″ long strips from scrap fabric. Sew these together in three columns using a 1/4 seam. Press the seam to the center as shown by the arrows and measure your block.
Your new block should measure 5″ x 5″ exactly. If it doesn’t, you need to adjust your seam allowance until you get it perfect. Some cotton fabric is slightly heavier than others so you lose the width of one or two threads in the seam allowance. It doesn’t sound like much but it does add up! To make up for this, try sewing with a 3/16″ seam. This is called a “scant 1/4”.
If your seam is too large, try using a quarter inch foot on your machine. You could also try putting a piece of painters tape on the bed of your machine exactly 1/4″ inch from the needle. Not sure how to measure it? Use an index card. The distance between the blue lines on a standard index card is exactly 1/4″. Depending on your machine, you might be able to adjust the needle position to give you a perfect seam allowance.
Creating the Strip-sets for Four-Patch or Nine-Patch Blocks
When sewing long strips of fabric together, always use a walking foot if you have one. That’s because the feed dogs of your machine tend to pull the bottom layer of fabric just slightly faster than the top layer. By the time you get to the end of a 40″ long seam, the two strips no longer match up.
If you don’t have a walking foot, pin the strips in the middle and at both ends. Gently guide the fabric through the machine, encouraging the two strips to meet at the pin. Always remove the pin just before sewing over it so your needle doesn’t hit it.
When you are done making strip-sets, take them to your ironing board and “set the seam” by pressing the stitches of the closed strip-sets. It will help relax the two strips, and will encourage the thread in the seam allowance to settle into the fabric. Open up the strip-set and press the seam allowance to the darker side. It should be nice and flat.